


We Must Go On With The Show

by orphan_account



Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Gen, Hospitalization, Injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:13:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24868156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Emma's alone at the edge of Hatchetfield when a team of PEIP's field agents comes to pick her up, in hopes of saving and relocating her.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	We Must Go On With The Show

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote a quick draft of this earlier today with the intention of rewriting it but then i decided to just delete it and post the newer version when i was done. so if you were one of the few folks who read the earlier one...hi again :D

Emma keeps her gaze trained on the theatre in town. From her spot near the water, which isn't exactly a vantage point, she doesn't have a good view of it, but thinking of the theatre helps distract her from the horrific sight her definitely broken leg.

She refuses to look at it, but she can feel the blood seeping down her leg, and if she moves her uninjured leg even slightly, it bumps into the giant piece of metal stuck through her.

The pain's been mostly washed out with an uncomfortable numbness, though.

The good news, if such a thing can even be found in the middle of an _apocalypse_ , is that none of the apotheosis-infected people have come towards her. Maybe Paul got rid of them all, and he's coming back right now.

Maybe they're so busy attacking him that they don't have time to care about her.

Okay, why did she have to go and fucking think that? Paul is fine, he has to be fine. He's going to destroy that meteor, and everybody infected is going to drop dead, or if this is story is shooting for a particularly happy ending, barf out all that blue shit and be completely fine.

When Emma finally tears her gaze from the theatre, she spots a boat.

She knows, logically speaking, that the apotheosis started in Hatchetfield. If there were more meteors, she would've seen it on the news. People would've made a bigger deal out of it. This doesn't stop her from panicking at the sight of other potential musical doubles, and her panic grows when the people getting off the boat are dressed in black gear, exactly like what that general from earlier was wearing.

They come towards her immediately.

"Get away from me. Get the fuck away from - " She cries out in pain. Her frantic attempts at shuffling backwards have jostled the metal, _again_.

One person sends some orders for others to go around Hatchetfield to clean up the catastrophe. Then she and another person approach Emma.

"Stay back," she says desperately, knowing that she can't possibly be threatening in her current position. "You're just like...fuck, that general guy..."

"General MacNamara?" the man asks, taking his sunglasses off.

Emma stares at him.

"He was supposed to report back to HQ an hour ago," the woman says. "We assumed the worst."

Emma searches their faces. She doesn't want to trust some random military goons she just met, _especially_ considering what happened with MacNamara from earlier, but does she really have a choice?

"He was - he was singing."

The man closes his eyes and brings a fist up to his mouth. The woman clicks her tongue and nods.

The theatre explodes.

Immediately, the two others crouch down to shield Emma, though none of the debris hits the beach. Emma sinks back, her head collapsing into the sand.

"Paul," she murmurs.

The man stands over her. "Who's Paul, ma'am?"

"He blew up the meteor," she says. She realizes that her voice is slurring; how much blood did she lose?

"Ma'am, we're going to get you out of here...There's a hospital in Clivesdale..."

She's about to pass out, but the pain of being pulled onto a stretcher is enough to shock her awake again. Somewhere in the back of her head she wonders if she can even trust these people, but as she sinks down into the stretcher, she realizes there's nothing she can do about it now.

*

There aren't a lot of people who would be visiting Emma in the hospital. Anyway, they're all dead now, but what does it matter?

(A voice in the back of her head tears at wounds, telling her that Paul could still be here. He blew up the meteor, he saved the day...)

Most of Emma's visitors are people from the military, the same branch General MacNamara was from. She learns that they're called PEIP, and they deal with weird shit like this. PEIP tells her that they were sent in to wipe out the population of Hatchetfield in order to get rid of the apotheosis. Emma tells them that General MacNamara was helping them escape on a chopper before he got infected. PEIP tells her this was against his orders, but they assure her they're grateful for the sacrifice and glad that one person could be saved.

Emma learns that the two people who helped her were Colonel Schaeffer and Xander Lee. She also learns that MacNamara was married, and the man (who's a normal and, currently, reasonably dejected citizen) comes in regularly to chat with Emma.

She's so high on all her painkillers that the days breeze by, but she doesn't care.

One day Xander Lee visits and sits in the room to talk to her about various things, what she wants with her life, what other names she'd go by if she had to change it. She doesn't know why he's asking and avoids some of the questions, but she's happy to talk about the botany degree she's working towards, bitch about the biology professor who betrayed her, and explain her plans to grow a pot farm.

"Shit, should I even be telling you this? About the pot. I'll wait 'til it's legal?"

Xander Lee looks a little amused and informs her that it's fine, he was just curious, is all.

They chat for a few more minutes, until Emma's new dose of medication keeps in. He leaves her a half-asleep and barely-lucid mess, and he informs the nurse of her current state, should that be a cause for concern.

Then he goes to talk to Colonel Schaeffer in the basement of the hospital.

They took it up for the length of Emma's stay, which is unorthodox, as is most things PEIP does. They need to remain in close contact with her, constantly monitoring for any signs that she may be affected by the apotheosis.

They're keeping her for two weeks. It's enough from her to heal from her surgery and broken bones, but it's also a long enough time for them to be sure she isn't infected.

After this, they'll have to relocate her. He or Colonel Schaeffer will explain it to her later, but for now, they have to get some preparations out of the way.

He mentions the pot farm plan to Colonel Schaeeffer, who toys with the idea of getting a plot of land for her. The least they can do, after what she went through.

She leaves him alone to his work. There's not much for Xander Lee to do right now, but he sends everything he can to the tech nerds who will make sure all the necessary paperwork is completed.

Somebody knocks on the door. Lee tells them he's working, but they can come in. He turns.

"John," he gasps out, moving forward.

The man in question smiles.

He looks like MacNamara, anyway. Even wearing the same gear he had on the day he left for Hatchetfield. Dusty, though, and his hair is a mess. He looks just like he came from a hard day of field work.

"You're alive?" Lee asks, but joy fades into suspicion.

"Xander, would I abandon my team?"

No, but he's been known to sacrifice himself to save others.

"You've heard of Paul Matthews, I assume?"

Lee nods. "I have." He cuts it off there, not wanting to go into detail about Emma.

"Paul was trying to stop the apotheosis by getting rid of the meteor that crashed down into the theatre. Since I was trying to help him escape, I went in to help. We destroyed it, but we still had some trouble getting out of Hatchetfield. We nearly didn't make it."

"Okay," Lee says, still processing the information. Yes, this is MacNamara; it has to be, right? But...

Lee clears his throat and asks, "What about Paul?"

MacNamara turns and holds his hand out towards the door in a theatrical gesture that Lee wouldn't expect from the man. Paul, a man wearing typical office attire, steps into the room. An awkward smile is etched onto his face.

Lee stares at the two men.

"I'll have to send you two upstairs and have the doctors make sure you're not infected. We have our own medical team who knows about the apotheosis, so they'll know what to look for," Lee says. He turns his gaze towards the civilian. "Paul...you knew Emma, right?"

"Yes, we're friends. Maybe something more?"

Lee frowns at the excess of information, then quickly recovers, saying in an even tone, "We're arranging for her relocation. The same can be done for you, and if you'd like to be moved together, we can do that."

"Yes, that would be great. Thank you, sir."

MacNamara and Paul share an odd look. Both occupying the same hivemind, they're planning the same thing.

*

Paul's in the waiting room. He slaps his hands on his knees and hums rhythmically, a tune he realizes is the same crowd tune from earlier. He doesn't know _why_ it distressed him so much earlier; so silly of him...

The nurse steps out of the room. "Paul Matthews?"

Paul gets up and follows her to the medical room. He looks around with a smile. Clivesdale's hospital is lovely.

She goes through the routine vital checks first, and Paul relents. Talking like a human being is disgusting, but necessary. PEIP is highly suspicious of any singing; some don't even want to hear music on the radio. Which is why they have to be careful. MacNamara will use his position in any way he can, as soon as it's not suspicious to do so, and Paul has his own plans.

"What's that song you've been singing?" the nurse asks.

"Hmm?"

"You've been humming this whole time," the nurse points out. "It just sounds familiar."

Paul smiles.

Having a nurse on their side will be good.

As soon as her apotheosis arrives, she knows the plan. Tomorrow, Paul will be reunited with Emma under the name Ben Bridges. (MacNamara learned this looking through PEIP's plans.) Until then, the nurse will be a good little musical double and act as a human being. So will MacNamara, and Paul.

But soon they'll all see that the apotheosis is inevitable.

**Author's Note:**

> do you think the hivemind would use macnamara to get paul into the hospital? i mean, i think it'd be easier than having paul go there alone. with peip members on his side, they may be more willing to trust him.  
> anyway, i was thinking about this fic the entire time i was at work. it's real awkward doing retail when you're thinking about aliens invading minds lol. (especially since it started storming.)


End file.
